More quickly, after I wrote my response, the very next day a definitely middle-class, University-educated Malawian wrote a piece for the local Blantyre newspaper entitled, ‘Where is God in this.’ It was the story of a village woman who had lost three sons to a genetic disease that only manifests in early adolescence and quickly kills. What I noticed was that the question in the article’s title was his, not hers. By Malawi standards, the writer is a fortunate man, blessed, successful, and well-off like Job. I think the observation still holds, but it has made me look and ask again.

I really appreciate your launching this dialogue and wish easier internet access gave me a freer opportunity to take part. Maybe when I’m home next week.

Also after I wrote I recalled that both Mark Twain and Charles Darwin wrote bitterly of loss of any hope in God after the death of a child. These are two people whose resourceful intelligence and even wisdom have contribute a lot to us. But they were also by any global standard very, very rich and successful when they lost their faith. Job’s questions matter, but so does the context. I’m still thinking and reflecting on this. Again thanks.

love,
donald

“An all-loving creator and a work in process seems more or less consistent with the Third World spirituality…”

As well as consistent with what little I know of Eastern Orthodoxy where the rubber meets the road. It also helps me weave some more ideas around my own wrestlings in this area which begin with the death of my younger brother (at 17) and the questions, “How could God…” and end with not-knowing.